Recent reviews by Deleran

I can count the number of times I've fallen asleep during an RPG on one hand. Two of those times was to this game, which breaks my heart to say, since I was so looking forward to this.

Yeah, it's pretty alright I guess.

The game is honestly pretty great. It's got a bit of bullet heaven, a bit of town/base building, all wrapped up in a nice Cultivation tortilla. 9/10 young masters approve of this game.

EDIT:
I'll be adding on to this review, as I've spent some more time back in the game since posting the original. The original will be left below, for preservation's sake.

Updated Review
Moments like these are when Steam would really benefit from a mixed recommendation setting. But in lieu of that, I'll be leaving it as not recommended for now. True to their word, the devs have, indeed, adjusted balancing issues, specifically centered around income generation. While there is still a good bit of waiting in the earlier parts of the game, it has been considerably lessened, relative to where it was before the balance changes. Then why do I still lean toward not recommended? This touches on another specific issue: namely, the estate rating system. Building structures of one estate lowers your rating with the two other estates in the game, in what is known as a non-exclusivity penalty. While the idea seems fine on paper, the degree to which the penalty starts and subsequently scales is asinine, at BEST, and horrendously moronic at worst. Unless you go into it prepared, you can end up locking yourself out of a plethora of buildings and edicts until you spam out splendor decorations and the like from the other two buildings to counteract the penalty. Of course, depending on what you build, you potentially end up lowering your rating with the first estate you initially built up, thus leading to an extremely tedious, and oftentimes frustrating cycle whereby you forcibly hold back building locations you may potentially need, lest you hamstring your progress with the estates for the foreseeable future. Now, for what it's worth, the devs did include an edict you can pick up within two of the estates' unlock tiers that reduces the non-exclusivity penalty of said estate's buildings on the other two estates by 50% or so, but said edicts, in addition to being several tiers in, also indicate, to me, that the devs likely know something about the system is horribly skewed, but would rather handle it this way, rather than take the time to properly balance it and make it less anti-fun.

And yet, despite that massive complaint, I only stick with a not recommendation reluctantly, because it's SO CLOSE to excellence. Hopefully the devs address this and other issues sincerely, and lift the game up to the heights that it could and should reach.

Original Review
Let's be clear, I actually really love this game, a lot. But the most recent update seems to have massively thrown the balance of the game all out of sorts. Gold trickles in at such a slow pace now compared to in previous versions, that it ends up becoming a waiting game where you're literally sitting there staring at the game waiting to get just enough money for any sort of progress. The curve eventually balances out, but a game shouldn't really feel so tedious at the start. It's a shame to say all that, though, because the game that's there is legitimately enjoyable, assuming you can get past that massive tedium cliff (which, let's be honest, isn't something anyone SHOULD need to "get past" in a game, as it shouldn't be a problem that exists in the first place).

This is honestly a really tough review for me to write, personally. I spent a lot of time with CK2, and loved every minute of it. As far as CK3 goes, though...well. I definitely love a lot of the ideas that are here. Paradox has gone a long way to create an incredible FRAMEWORK for a game that will one day eclipse CK2. Yet here we are, two years in, and it's still a far cry from that point. The game still feels bare-bones and, worse yet, it feels utterly soulless in a lot of ways. It's disappointing and more than a bit damning when playing as a French Catholic and playing as a Muslim in the Middle East feels largely the same, for example. As for the content and DLC that HAS been added, it ranges from absolutely alright to incredibly mediocre, especially considering cost of said DLC (to say nothing of the massive price increase on already-released flavor packs).

While I have definitely enjoyed my time with CK3, I have already reached a point where I simply feel done with it, and no longer want to bother, even with the recent update and DLC release.

In short, while I think there will come a time when CK3 outshine CK2 in every conceivable way, now is not that time, and honestly, I can't see that time coming anytime soon. :|

Man....I got this as a gift, and it still feels like a rip-off.

I swear, I thought I was buying VA-11 Hall-A.

Does it draw inspiration from Vampire Survivors?
Absolutely.
Is it a shameless ripoff? Not at all. Rather, I'd say this game is a cross between VS and Nova Drift (especially in terms of the upgrade system), while also possessing a charmingly dark aesthetic (imo). If you're even a little interested, check it out.

I mean, it's only 3 bucks, after all!

Is it good? Well, you're mileage may vary, depending on how you play and what you look for when playing the game. For my part, I've rather enjoyed the content that's there, although as others have said, it isn't exactly anything groundbreaking.

Now, is it worth $30 (or your regional equivalent)? No. No, not at all. And frankly, if this is the kind of content we're going to get for the price we're paying, I'm legitimately worried about CK3's future.

Accidentally taught a male disciple a skill meant specifically for female disciples. Upon completion, his ding-dong fell off.

Not wanting to waste a precious resource, I made him refine it into an artifact. Now he flies into battle and decapitates enemies with his willy.

10/10 would accidentally castrate again.